Today’s column is about sex. … Wait, hear me out. Not about sex, per se. It’s about sexuality. Specifically, it’s about the California Division of the State Architect’s Bulletin “BU 17-01-01,” which is officially titled “Bulletin: Identification of Single-User Toilet Facilities As All-Gender: Frequently Asked Questions.” So, really, today’s column is about toilets and gender.

As you know if you’ve followed my column, toilets are one of my all-time favorite subjects. So we’ll forget about gender and talk about toilets.

In the real would, most of us use the term “restroom” or maybe “bathroom.” In the world of building codes and architecture, those words mean different things, as does the term “powder room.” Technically, a restroom doesn’t have a bath or shower. It’s just a place to rest, I guess.

In our homes or apartments, we generally have bathrooms that have a bath and/or shower, a sink and a toilet. If we have a room with a toilet and sink only, we call it a “half-bath.”

At this point, I should explain that building codes are developed by committees. These committees are made up of government folks, manufacturer representatives, interest groups and the public — none of which, in my view, have any interest in making building codes simpler, easy to understand, or even comprehensible to the public they serve. In fact, in my view, it’s exactly the opposite. They seem to go out of their way to add industry jargon and convoluted answers to almost everything you’d ever want to build and complications at every turn.

And when I use the term, “public,” I mean the public is invited but it would be like sitting in on an insurance seminar so it doesn’t really happen.

A public building is generally any building used by the public. So far, everything makes sense, because I’m using terms they don’t use in the code. Now, if you happen to have a public building where a lot of “people” are expected, you need to have more toilets and sinks for those people. Again, that makes sense.

Over the years, however, toilets have been separated by sex into today’s, “men’s” and “women’s” and grouped into clusters, mostly driven by workplace requirements.

Speaking for myself and almost any other person I have ever talked to about public toilets — people would prefer complete privacy over a “locker room” approach to toilet use. This is why you never see two toilets in the same bathroom in a private home. You don’t want to use a toilet in the same room with your closest family members, but for some reason it has become normal to use little stalls next to complete strangers in a room where many people are coming and going.

Which leads us back to the current “all-gender” bulletin.

Here’s a small excerpt of a “frequently asked question”: “In applying this statute to existing facilities, how does HSC section 118600 reconcile with the provisions in the California Building Standards Code (CBSC)?”

What? You don’t understand the frequently asked question? Don’t feel bad. The question and answer can only be understood by .0000001 percent of the people it governs.

Here’s my three-step suggestion to the state of California and anyone else who wants to listen about a solution to all-gender toilets: It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Use some common sense or just talk to average people instead of yourselves and change the name to “toilets” (dropping any other description).

Start converting current restroom into more “single-user,” “uni-sex” or “family style” restroom where someone can have some privacy — male, female or parent trying to change a dirty diaper.

Continue using “communal” restrooms until society refuses to use them. You can tell when that happens because there will be a long line at the single-user restrooms.

And for those who want information on the California Building Code through the Building Standards Commission website, here’s the link for public access: www.bsc.ca.gov.

Have an “Around the House” question or comment? Send it to Matt Le Vesque at P.O. Box 108, Yucaipa, CA 92399 or czrmatt@yahoo.com and he will consider it for his column. Please include your full name and city of residence. Le Vesque is a forensic consultant, general engineering/building contractor and Realtor in Southern California.

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